For nearly two seasons now, the OKC Thunder have been viewed as having the most talented overall roster in the entire league. Sporting superstar talents like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, rising stud youngsters in Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, and a slew of trusty two-way commodities, there's really no concrete case to be made against such a claim.
Recently, this sentiment was further strengthened by the findings of CBS Sports' Colin Ward-Henninger, who laid out a list of the best five, three, and two-man lineups that have taken to the court halfway through the 2024-25 season and, to no one's surprise, Oklahoma City was found mentioned several times in each of the categories.
However, perhaps the most exciting and, in some ways, shocking finding from the piece came when talking about dynamic duos.
Though the Thunder are often mentioned as having one of the game's most menacing one-two punches this season with the likes of Gilgeous-Alexander and J-Dub serving as the club's top dogs, what's interesting to note is that this tandem didn't even manage to crack the top-eight in net rating out of those who have played 1,000 or more minutes this year.
Despite this, OKC still managed to rank in as having the number one two-man lineup in the association, as Ward-Henninger's findings revealed SGA and Luguentz Dort to be the game's top dogs.
Thunder have top dynamic duo in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort
As assessed in the piece, Gilgeous-Alexander, who many could argue to be the league's best backcourt scoring talent, running alongside the defensive stalwart that is Lu Dort has the makings of a tandem that "equals unparalleled success on both ends of the floor."
The eye test alone shows this to be the case on a nightly basis, though the advanced metrics only solidify them as the best two-way pair in the game this year as they ring in with the best defensive rating (102.9) and net rating (15.8) compared to the rest of the league's two-man assortments.
From an individual standpoint, both find themselves amid arguably the best seasons of their respective careers.
Gilgeous-Alexander is on a historic pace at the moment with averages of 32.1 points, 6.0 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks on 52.8 percent shooting from the floor while Dort is cashing home on an all-time best 41.4 percent of his long-range attempts while posting 9.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.0 steals, just shy of a block and a career-best 104.7 defensive rating.
Together, they boast the second-best total plus-minus rating (+343) in the NBA and have guided the Thunder to a 35-7 record when both active this year.